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Corruption and Weak Property Protections Fuel Protests in Rural China: The Case of Wukan Village

May 31, 2017

Official corruption and malfeasance in land expropriations lay at the heart of unrest in Wukan, a village in Guangdong province, which garnered international attention in 2011 when villagers protested against corruption and subsequently secured direct elections of local-level officials. In June 2016, protests began when authorities detained Wukan village committee Communist Party Secretary Lin Zulian under bribery allegations reportedly for advocating government land returns. For almost three months, Wukan residents assembled for protests calling for Lin’s release and the return of village land, until authorities mobilized riot police and public security forces to crackdown on villagers. The latest developments in Wukan illustrate the lack of effective redress mechanisms for villagers involved in land-related disputes, a main source of unrest in rural China. Furthermore, the government’s focus on “stability maintenance” in Wukan and their response to the protests have dampened hopes for grassroots democratic reform in China.

On June 17, 2016, local authorities imposed “coercive measures” against Lin Zulian, the elected Communist Party Secretary of Wukan, on suspicion of “accepting bribes.”[1] Lin, an advocate for the return of land to villagers, was elected to the village committee in 2012 in a special election[2] and reelected in 2015.[3] Authorities detained Lin after he announced plans to launch a new campaign for the return of village land.[4] On June 21, Chinese state-run media aired a prerecorded confession of Lin admitting to taking bribes.[5] The Chinese government has employed televised confessions in many high-profile cases in recent years from the arrest of human rights lawyers to the abductions of Hong Kong booksellers.[6] The increased use of televised confessions contravenes article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.[7] Authorities formally arrested Lin on July 21[8] and on September 8, the Chancheng District People’s Court in Foshan municipality, Guangdong province, sentenced him to three years and one month in prison and a fine of 200,000 yuan (approximately US$29,000) for bribery-related charges.[9] Lin appealed the sentence,[10] denying the bribery charge that he previously admitted to,[11] but the Foshan Municipality Intermediate People’s Court upheld his original sentence.[12]

Land Expropriation Issues Fuel Tensions in “Democracy Village”

The arrest and sentencing of Lin Zulian is the latest in a series of efforts to crackdown on land return advocates in Wukan. Land expropriation issues are a recurring source of unrest since 2011 when major protests caused village Party and government officials to flee the area.[13] In a move widely applauded as a step toward grassroots democracy, provincial-level authorities allowed a village committee election in March 2012 where protests leaders, including Lin Zulian, were elected.[14] Despite promises made to the villagers that land expropriation issues would be addressed, the failure to return land in subsequent years led to additional protests in 2014, where authorities detained two Wukan elected officials, Yang Semao and Hong Ruichao.[15] Lin Zulian’s arrest, and the crackdown on villagers who staged protests, is the latest in a series of officials’ efforts to clamp down on Wukan villagers’ efforts to seek redress.[16]

Local-level Corruption Rampant in Many Parts of China

Local-level corruption related to the use of land remains rampant in rural China, including in Wukan, despite President Xi Jinping’s large-scale anticorruption campaign.[17] Village officials reportedly engaged in embezzlement,[18] land expropriation,[19] and forced demolition of homes.[20] Some officials reportedly had ties to gangs that used intimidation and violence to extort villagers.[21] In January 2017, at separate high-level national meetings for their respective agencies, Wang Qishan,[22] the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Cao Jianming,[23] the Procurator-General of Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), acknowledged the problem and indicated plans to tackle the issue of corruption among village officials and related gang activities. The SPP subsequently issued an official directive instructing lower level prosecutors to work with other government agencies and Party organizations to enforce efforts targeting so-called “village tyrants”—officials who are involved in corruption and violence against villagers.[24]

Weak Property Protections a Main Cause of Corruption and Public Protests

Villagers in rural China face land expropriation by local governments who dispossess villagers of property and land use in order to resell to developers and businesses. Local governments seek revenue by forcibly or arbitrarily depriving villagers of property,[25] including through forced demolitions, threats, coercion, and violence.[26] The Chinese government’s arbitrary seizure of private property contravenes provisions in the PRC Constitution[27] and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[28] Government compensation to villagers whose land is expropriated is often low,[29] leaving villagers “worse off” financially with losses in areas such as crops, equipment, buildings, and businesses.[30] One study found that local governments receive 10 to 40 times more for expropriated land at $190,000 to $740,000 per acre compared to the amount provided to farmers at $17,800 per acre.[31] Legal reparation mechanisms for displaced residents are reportedly inadequate,[32] and villagers seeking redress often face violence from hired gangs or local police.[33] Villagers victimized by local land grabs have turned to the petitioning system (xinfang)[34 to present their grievances to authorities in higher government offices, which has often landed petitioners in “black jails” and detention, and, in some cases, faced with criminal charges.[35] According to official news media China Daily, a 2014 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences study found that, land acquisitions and forced demolitions were among the top causes of “mass incidents” in China.[36] One expert on Chinese governance observed that the lack of private property rights in China, in addition to the lack of judicial independence in Chinese courts, limits the effectiveness of the Party and central government’s anticorruption campaign—including at the county level.[37]

Crackdowns on Village Protests Diminish Hopes for Replicating “Wukan Model” of Grassroots Democracy

Hopes for grassroots democratic reform in China, based on the “Wukan model,” further diminished after officials used heavy-handed tactics to suppress demonstrators.[38 On and around September 13, 2016, international news media reported that security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators, a move reportedly ordered by the Guangdong province Communist Party Secretary Hu Chunhua[39] that resulted in serious injuries to villagers.[40] Police forces interrogated and expelled foreign reporters from the village,[41] blockaded access to the village,[42] and detained villagers and Internet users.[43] A Chinese party-run news media characterized international reporting on events in Wukan as “foreign forces” conducting “public opinion warfare,”[44] while other provincial media published alternative narratives on events in Wukan that downplayed the violence and unrest.[45] In December 2016, the Haifeng County People’s Court tried and convicted[46] nine Wukan residents for their participation in the protest and sentenced them to prison.[47] According to a March 2017 media report, Wukan residents continue to be under surveillance by authorities and are fearful to speak to outsiders.[48]

For more information on the 2016 protests in Wukan village, see “A New Round of Protests in Wukan Village” Textbox in Section III—Institutions of Democratic Governance in the CECC 2016 Annual Report, p. 240.

[1] Lufeng City Public Security Bureau, “Lufeng City Public Security Bureau Open Letter to All of the Villagers of Wukan Village” [Lufeng shi gong’anju zhi wukan cun guangda cunmin de gongkai xin], 17 June 16, reprinted in Lufeng City Public Security Bureau (Ping’an lufeng), Weibo post, 18 June 16, 5:12 a.m. (weibo.com/1765354884/DAKv8ypHB?type=comment#_rnd1467322816213); James Pomfret, “China ‘Democracy’ Village Chief Arrested for Graft, Riot Police Deployed,” Reuters, 18 June 16 (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-wukan-idUSKCN0Z405O); “Protests Enter Fifth Day in China’s Rebel Village of Wukan,” Radio Free Asia, 23 June 16 (http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-wukan-06232016141937.html).

[13] Thomas Lum, Congressional Research Service, “Human Rights in China and U.S. Policy: Issues for the 113th Congress,” 19 June 13, 5 (www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R43000.pdf); “Wukan: After the Uprising,” Al Jazeera, 26 June 13 (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/06/2013626153044866869.html). See also James Promfret, “Special Report: Freedom Fizzles Out in China’s Rebel Town of Wukan,” Reuters, 28 February 13 (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-wukan-idUSBRE91R1J020130228); Zhuang Liehong, “Open Letter to the Chinese Government and the World Media About the Suppression of Wukan,” China Change, 23 November 16 (https://chinachange.org/2016/11/23/open-letter-to-the-chinese-government-and-the-world-media-about-the-suppression-of-wukan/).

[16] Zhuang Liehong, “Open Letter to the Chinese Government and the World Media About the Suppression of Wukan,” China Change, 23 November 16 (https://chinachange.org/2016/11/23/open-letter-to-the-chinese-government-and-the-world-media-about-the-suppression-of-wukan/). See also CECC, 2014 Annual Report, 9 October 14, 142-43.

[26] For examples of local government’s forced demolitions, threats, coercion, and violence against villagers, see Jun Mai, “China’s ‘Nail-Gun Murderer’: What Drove My Brother To Kill A Village Official,” South China Morning Post, 20 November 16 (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047402/chinas-nail-gun-murderer-what-drove-my-brother-kill-village); Jun Mai, “11 Detained After Woman, 60, Died in Forced Demolition of Her Home,” South China Morning Post, 13 June 16 (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1989313/11-detained-after-woman-60-died-forced-demolition-her-home).

[39] James Pomfret and Benjamin Kang Lim, “Exclusive: Provincial Boss Ordered Crackdown on China’s ‘Democracy Village’ With Eye on National Power,” Reuters, 23 September 16 (www.reuters.com/article/us-china-wukan-idUSKCN11T0J1?il=0). See also Zhuang Liehong, “Open Letter to the Chinese Government and the World Media About the Suppression of Wukan,” China Change, 23 November 16 (https://chinachange.org/2016/11/23/open-letter-to-the-chinese-government-and-the-world-media-about-the-suppression-of-wukan/).

[40] “Wukan China Unrest: ‘A Village Under Siege,’” BBC, 14 September 16 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37366955); Javier C. Hernandez, “Wukan, A Chinese Village, Erupts in Unrest Over Activists’ Arrests,” New York Times, 13 September 16 (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/asia/wukan-china-land-use-protests.html?_r=0); “Wukan Erupted Again With Severe Conflict, Several Dozens of People Were Injured by Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets” [Wukan zaibao yanzhong chongtu shushi ren bei cuileidan, xiangjiao zidan suo shang], Radio Free Asia, 13 September 16 (http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/clash-09132016085014.html); James Pomfret, “Chinese Villagers Describe Police Beatings in ‘Wild Crackdown’ on Protest,” Reuters, 14 September 16 (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-wukan-protests-idUSKCN11J0C0); Zhuang Liehong, “Open Letter to the Chinese Government and the World Media About the Suppression of Wukan,” China Change, 23 November 16 (https://chinachange.org/2016/11/23/open-letter-to-the-chinese-government-and-the-world-media-about-the-suppression-of-wukan/).